Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma (Mother), as she is known, was born Parayakadavu, state of Kerala, India, in 1953. Born to a family of fishermen, she displayed an intense spirituality from a very early age. Her education ended at the age of nine, when she began to take care of her
younger siblings and the family domestic work full-time.
As part of her chores, Amritanandamayi gathered food scraps from neighbours for
her family's cows and goats, through which she was confronted with the intense
poverty and suffering of others. She would bring these people food and clothing
from her own home; soon she got a reputation for curing sick cows.
Her family, which was not wealthy, scolded and punished her.
Amritanandamayi also began to spontaneously embrace people to comfort them in
their sorrow. It was not permissible for a 14-year-old girl to touch others,
especially men. But despite the reaction of her parents, Amritanandamayi
continued. Regarding
her embracing of others, Amritanandamayi commented, “I don’t see if it is a man
or a woman. I don’t see anyone different from my own self. A continuous stream
of love flows from me to all of creation. This is my inborn nature. The duty of
a doctor is to treat patients. In the same way, my duty is to console those who
are suffering."
Despite numerous attempts by her parents to arrange her marriage,
Amritanandamayi rejected their efforts. In
1981, after various seekers had begun residing at her parents' property in
Parayakadavu in the hopes of becoming Amritanandamayi's disciples, the Mata
Amritanandamayi Math (MAM), a worldwide foundation, was founded. This institution is involved in many spiritual and charitable projects, like founding orphanages in India or raising money for the vicitms of natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina or tsunamis. It gets money from private donations exclusively but also from the sales of items related to her figure and her life.
Her ashram or spiritual centre has its hedquarters in Amritapuri, Kerala, and many people from all over the world visit it every year. She is also called "the hugging saint" and she travels the world hugging people who wait long hurs to get her embrace. Miracles, meditation, prophesies and a lot of money revolve around Amma's orbit. She is reported to have raised 3 million dollars in a 7-week tour. She says she only offers love and comfort to those who need it.
Her ashram or spiritual centre has its hedquarters in Amritapuri, Kerala, and many people from all over the world visit it every year. She is also called "the hugging saint" and she travels the world hugging people who wait long hurs to get her embrace. Miracles, meditation, prophesies and a lot of money revolve around Amma's orbit. She is reported to have raised 3 million dollars in a 7-week tour. She says she only offers love and comfort to those who need it.
Next week Amma is coming to Granollers, Barcelona, as a part of her European tour. Would you like to go?
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In the following video, you can watch a BBC report on Amma's visit to London two years ago.
In the following video, you can watch a BBC report on Amma's visit to London two years ago.
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